


Unexpected  Accomplice

by ThanksALatte_tripleshot



Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, BAMF Darcy Lewis, But It's A Good Kind Of Character Death, Canon Divergence - Post-Thor (2011), Character Death, Crime Scenes, Murder Mystery, POV Darcy Lewis, POV Loki (Marvel), Partners in Crime, Scientist Wrangler Darcy Lewis, Thanos (Marvel) Dies, Weapons
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-01-23
Updated: 2019-02-24
Packaged: 2019-10-14 00:42:36
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 3
Words: 8,220
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17498393
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ThanksALatte_tripleshot/pseuds/ThanksALatte_tripleshot
Summary: Darcy Lewis was just out to buy chocolate and a Dr Pepper, that was all! She did not plan to witness a murder,  how could she have known to avoid that particular back alley?To be honest though,  it looks less like a murder and more like someone just saved the world from a giant purple E.T. type raisin, but still.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> This is set very, very close to the end of Thor. Loki fell from the bridge, all that, fell into Thanos' territory.  
> Jane went to work for same people, so did Erik.  
> It diverges shortly after, moving the time frame up. I figure, Loki's a good actor, he could make it seem like he was in agreement with the plan in order to escape long before he actually was under mind control/ influence of the stone. (That's canon, the mind control thing fyi, I'm not making it up, promise).  
> In this, Thanos just tried to make a movie on New York a lot sooner, basically.

Though it was not a dark or stormy night; it was perfect weather and the moon was full; Darcy really should have expected something to go horribly wrong.  It had been too good of a day so something was bound to happen. Maybe she could not have expected to see a murder mystery coming but she should have been expecting something. 

Nothing of Jane's had malfunctioned,  exploded,  opened a worm whole,  gotten them invaded by black suits,  nothing! The coffee machine had even been faster than normal.  She should have anticipated a wild night to balance the universe.

Her first mistake was walking,  thinking it was too nice a night to stay inside.  Even a car seemed wrong at the time,  so she left her apartment to go to the little mom and pop store several blocks away. 

That seemed like such an innocent plan,  so perfectly normal,  even mundane.  It never crossed her mind that she would run into trouble.  Granted,  it was New York,  but it was a far cry from the main part of the city.  It hardly even counted.  It was almost like being in New Mexico again,  but without the sand and stretches of nothing. 

Darcy made her way down the streets,  trusting the world and her taser.  Her taser was trustworthy,  at least.  But little did she know,  things were about to get a lot more complicated when she turned exactly the wrong corner at the wrong time. 

She stopped dead when she spotted two figures blocking her way.  It was not unheard of to see other people out,  it was a city,  after all.  However,  what was unusual was seeing someone that large,  with muscles bigger than Thor,  bald,  armored, and most importantly of all,  purple. 

Now,  Darcy would never count herself an expert of alien life, however,  she'd met her share in the past few years.  They hit Thor with a van,  and it all went crazy from there; sort of like it was about to again.  This one could not even be blamed on Jane,  which was unfortunate.  Regardless,  she was pretty sure,  after encountering several aliens,  she was good at picking them out.  The purple, wrinkled - or maybe scared - aspect was a pretty big hint. The metal armor was another very good hint. 

Truthfully, E.T. always looked like a walking prune to her anyway so this sort of fit with her life long idea of aliens. It was not much of a metal stretch for one of E.T's relatives to be a really big,  overgrown,  prune.  The movie version was lacking armor but that movie was very old.  Not that she believed the movie was real but... everything was inspired by something. 

Darcy mentally shook herself in order to focus on the conversation going on.  The prune was talking to someone and rounding the corner just a little more let her see who. 

The second figure looked considerably more human,  if a beaten up,  rich version.  He was in some leather mixed in with more regular material. Still,  it was suspicious looking leather!  He had those high boots,  and the bigger tip off was the green cape hanging off his shoulders, and the bracers on his arms. The whole thing was a lot like the type of fashion she noticed on a few other aliens Thor dragged around, and also Thor himself. Suspicious! 

The potential Asgardian was pressed up against the wall,  leaning on it heavily.  Truth be told,  he did not look like he was in the best shape.  His clothes were nice,  but they looked a lot like he'd been dragged around roughly in them,  the leather was scuffed in several places.  The cape was pretty tattered,  frayed terribly at the hem. The kid had a cut under one eye,  swollen and red.  She could see a few more marks,  particularly on his neck even if his black hair hung down and covered a lot of it up. The red marks looked particularly harsh on him since he was so pale,  sickly white,  and a little clammy. 

He could actually be sick.  He was skinny enough to be malnourished, kind of like she would expect someone held prisoner for a while to look.  That did not bode well for the kid against the big guy. She felt kind of really bad for that kid. 

Maybe she would have marched right over and started yelling but there was one big hold up on that.  The big guy was holding a very sharp looking,  glowing spear,  staff mixture.  That was yet another thing going against raven boy.

Darcy reached for her phone to call Jane, well,  text,  probably,  but she found a particular lack of substance in her pocket.  She checked her other pocket,  then her bag.  All spaces lacked a phone shaped item which was kind of a big problem.  She could not even call the police!

Of all the days she could have walked off without her phone,  it would be the day she really needed it! Jane could whip something up for this guy in no time,  but noooo! Darcy- brain-left-at-home Lewis walked out unprepared for the realities of the mad world they lived in!

New strategy! She was in possession of her taser.  That,  at least,  she grabbed! It worked on a Thunder demigod,  surely it would work on purple man!

Once he was out she could find a coffee shop and borrow someone's computer to get Jane to come send him to space where he clearly belonged. 

If she knew how to contact Colson she'd just have that guy come with his crew.  Maybe get her old iPod back in the trade.  That would really sweeten the deal of saving earth from E.T.'s psycho cousin.  Too bad the guys number was probably unlisted. 

"You will destroy their forces,  bring them to their knees." The deep,  rumbling voice rolled a lion's growl,  dark and threatening. "Then, once they have fallen,  you will bring me the Tesseract."

The sickly boy; well,  he was probably not that young but he looked so beaten down, so lost,  it drew connections to a little black kitten tossed out on the street; he only starred up at that huge,  ridiculously square jaw. Still,  she had the feeling,  were he in better shape,  he might be pretty formidable,  there was something about his eyes. He had eyes like a cat,  for sure,  brooding and very cunning,  like he was always thinking,  probably plotting what accident might befall the family dog or fish. 

Shockingly,  the big man settled that glowing blue spear into the boy's open hand,  closing limp fingers around it in a clear enough order to take it.

He was so shockingly huge, it seemed almost wrong, "Should you fail me, I doubt I have need to explain the magnitude of the consequences that will follow. Earth is... too unpredictable,  too full of weaklings unfit for the power they seek endlessly to harness.  They have no understanding of what it takes to wield true power."

Darcy rolled her eyes. The guy was going on a rant,  obviously.  Good a time as any. 

"You and I are not the sort people understand.  We're the sort people fear, it's just the way it is.  But that is why we can understand each other.  We're alike,  you and I. We see the cost of things and aren't afraid to act for the betterment of the universe. We understand there is a bigger picture separate from the mundane normalcy others cling to so dearly,  even to their own detriment.  We know that peace is not won with pretty speeches,  it's about hard choices others aren't willing to make."

Yes,  yes,  definitely a villain.  Evil monologue! This was clearly a villain rant of the classic 'we're not so different' thus you should do as I say bit.  That was in every movie!

Time to save the world from the Attack of the Prunes!

Darcy eased her taser out of her bag,  intent on making a go at the big one.  He was still,  even after passing the spear,  the biggest threat.  The kid was armed now but far less threatening. 

He was big,  so she set it as high as it would go,  hoping it had enough juice for another round if she needed to hit him twice. 

Maybe one of the aliens had a phone,  by some crazy chance.  Who knew? It might be just that easy! Doubtful,  but there was always that chance!

Darcy made to step out of her hiding spot,  meager though it was.  She should learn that nothing in life was ever simple in the slightest.  She really should have checked in front of her feet.  Classic mistake also in every movie! 

A glass bottle rolled with a loud clatter over the cement from where she accidentally kicked it.  It was even punctuated by the glass breaking with a terrible crash.  Darcy froze in place dread already sinking in,  sagging her shoulders when the utter silence followed the loudness. 

Surprise attack failure. 

So much for saving the world.  Probably time to die instead. The purple man was huge, he could snap her like a twig!  Talk about a sucky night! Why didn't she just stay home?

Only,  that was when raven boy moved.  Lightning quick! He'd clearly been waiting for his chance all along, waiting for those beady eyes to turn away,  waiting for a distraction!


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> There is a little mild gore in the beginning but it's not super bad and is over quickly.

Loki never even spared the Midgardian the glance Thanos did. The musclebound creature was not nearly as intelligent as he believed himself to be, nor as perceptive, as he was also prone to hubris so great he believed himself invincible. To Loki, a human was of little significance to him at present, they were small and lacked a particular threat to his general survival.

There was only one thing he held in any sort of priority and that was the situation that had been presented to him, neatly, perfectly, as if by the Norns themselves. It was retribution of the divine sort. Judgment doled out from all those in the past who had suffered at the hands of the Mad Titan, placed in the hands of a Trickster. 

Since the moment Loki had fallen into the Titan's clutches he had been seeking a chance,  an opening, a window of opportunity.  All he had ever needed was the right moment. He had never been one to overlook an opportunity, he had a propensity for finding a weakness and exploiting it, even if the weakness only lasted a mere moment, it was all he really needed to seize it.

The hate had boiled in him from the very first few moments of being under Thanos' control,  forced to kneel and scrape,  and play at the game of submission.  Loki could feign servility, surrender. He was, after all, the best liar in his realm. When he needed them most, his skills of trickery were often at their best as the need to survive was a strong motivator to perform well. All the while,  he had been awaiting his opportunity.  He'd never found it, doubted in his lower moments that it would ever present itself, yet here it was. 

There was a powerful weapon in his hands and the eyes of his great enemy cast to the side, away from him. The staff could rival many weapons,  could act as weapon and shield for its wielder; it might even put him on equal ground with Mjolnir or Gungnir, but that was a thought for another time.  But it had magnificent power, thus it had more than enough of a chance against Thanos. That left him with a unique opportunity that might only present itself but once and Loki was ever an opportunist to his very core, and thus, he jumped at his chance with his whole being, using his hatred and rage to drive him on and banish the fear or hesitation thoughts of potential failure might cause.

Every ache and pain in his body was a reason not to be cowed by doubts as the consequences for failure to kill or failure to act were more or less the same. A weak-minded fool he was not, he knew the promises of ruling, the promises of freedom should he obey, were simply prettily spun lies and a strong tug would unravel them like spun cloth.

Loki tightened his fingers around the cool metal neck of the scepter, angling the point upward in a swift rotation of his wrist. He did not hesitate, could not afford even a second of warning that would allow this particular opponent the room to dodge. This was likely the most vital battle of his life and he had no intention of allowing it to become a battle at all, not one where Thanos could fight in return. Glorious only for its lack of length, for the element of surprise, unlike his brother's tactics.

He threw every bit of his weight and strength into a single upward motion, driving the blade of the weapon up through hide, sinew, and muscle. Thanos made a sound of surprise, fleeting, almost nothing at all before the blade was sunk fully up through the underside of his jaw, through the roof of his mouth, and diving into his brain. Loki made sure to angle the thrust to avoid the skull, nothing that could slow the progress, nothing to stall, only a direct shot around the protective bone, unhindered in its path to the delicate matter that kept this monster alive. If fighting at Thor's side had taught him anything in all his years it was that monsters could be killed.

There was twisted glee coiling inside him, perhaps even blood-lust at the sight of red freely flowing, running down of the golden metal, spattering slightly from the impact. He pressed up on his toes, holding the gleaming handle tightly in both hands as he gave it a sharp twist to the left, pulling down slightly, then twisting hard to the right just to be absolutely sure it was fatal before pulling back on the weapon. The sound was loud, liquid as metal left gaping flesh and the body crumpled to the ground. Even then, as he gazed at the huge body unnaturally sprawled out, he could not resist stabbing his a few more times through the chest to satisfy the clawing need to be absolutely certain he could never move again.

The body was not moving and only then did the feeling of... exhaustion fall over him. Every muscle wanted to release, he could feel the way he suddenly, unexpectedly began to shake, his fingers unable to hold the spear any longer. It clattered harshly on the ground, echoing against the brick buildings the way it would have in a cave. Instinct told Loki not to let go of his weapon but his body could hardly keep his legs under him.

He was so... relieved as if he could finally breathe again after so long. He could not remember the last time he slept nor even relaxed, not since his fall from the bridge and perhaps even before. He was drained and had been for such a very long time. 

Loki leaned his back against the hard surface of the wall to enable himself to remain on his feet, to keep his legs from buckling under his own weight. He felt overwhelmed and relieved at once. Thanos was not moving, chest still, and clearly dead, yet there was the deepest need to stab him a few more times, the need to check to be sure as well as the need to stay very far away.

The human edged into his vision and he turned his attention on her. Her posture was relaxed, not tight and frightened as it should have been. Her hands dangled freely at her sides, fingers loose. A knit maroon cap with a flower sat atop her head, covering the beginning of her long, dark wavy hair. Her eyes were on the fallen Titan but she did not look on in horror, but seeming more analytical, contemplative as she walked over.

She avoided stepping in the widening pool of blood but shied away no more than that. As far as Midgardian women she seemed ordinary, yet she was unusual all the same, perhaps for the sheer nerve of her. Most sane individuals would not so easily approach a scene such as this,  most especially not a human. 

Faced with two aliens,  even if Loki looked human,  ones that had also openly engaged in a battle,  most humans would flee.  Was this human in fact out of her mind or was she merely dense enough not to comprehend what had taken place?

She turned her eyes on him rather suddenly, almost seeming unimpressed and entirely calm, "Wow..." she mused, as if unaffected, "brutal!"

Loki found himself blinking owlishly at her, baffled by her nonplussed response to the situation and mildly concerned by it,  or more than mildly. 

A sudden, wild, worrying thought occurred to him.

Thanos had mentioned Earth and it's small number of powerful forces; remarkable humans, humans superior among their meager, lackluster race. Heroes with remarkable attributes that rivaled even some other of the races in the Nine Realms,  beings with strength enough to perhaps hold their ground against Thor. A few of them had been mentioned by name, such as one called "Hulk" and "Captain" but he was unsure of some of the others. He had been tasked to destroy them first as they would flock together and try to hinder the plan of subjugating earth. He had never been told all their names or descriptions as that was to come later, once he secured the power of the Tesseract first and foremost. It was item number two on the priority list. 

Could she be among them, one of those superior humans? What were the odds of running into one of them in his first few moments on the planet? Of all the humans he might have found himself in the company of,  could she have been one of those powerful humans? Was he truly so utterly cursed even after his good deed? She showed no fear, not even after watching him kill someone twice his stature.  Did she believe she had nothing to fear because she _did not see him as a threat_?

She looked him over for a few seconds before seeming to make up her mind, "Okay,  I'll help you clean this up." She waved a hand dismissively at him, "Go clean yourself up a bit,  huh? You can't wander around like that."

He continued to stare blankly at her and she sighed. 

"Around the corner there is a bar,  you can sneak in the back door and go right for the bathroom.  Get some paper towels wet, then sneak into a stall in case anyone walks in.  Once you think you've got most of the blood off, you can come back out and check in the mirror.  Get anything you missed and then run those paper towels under the water for a while to get rid of most of the blood so it's not super obvious to anyone that might spot them. The less questions the better, ya know?  Make sure you don't leave any traces of blood on anything, then shove the paper towels into the trash as far as you can, just in case." She tapped her fingers against her leg, thinking, "There is enough traffic in there they probably won't be able to pick out your prints and won't have a reason to look if you don't leave any blood evidence.  Just be sure no one sees you and don't leave any blood.  If you get caught washing up,  say you got into a fight.  Don't offer specifics.  People will probably forget about it."

He continued to stare at her, unable to process her words even though he did understand her perfectly well, though he eventually got out nothing better than, "Pardon?"

Her expression turned to something impatient and incredulous, "Do you wanna go to jail?"

Loki knew what jail was, and no, he did not, so he shook his head mutely.

"I didn't figure you did." She granted, "So do what I say and we can cover this thing up so no one has to find out. Or at least... they won't know it was you. It's called covering your tracks."

Actually, that sounded like a particularly good idea and had he been fully clear in his own mind he probably would have already been working on that. Though most in the universe would be overjoyed to know that the Titan was no more there were those rather crazed followers of his that might misguidedly seek revenge against the killer of their great leader. That would indeed be less than ideal. This human was not slow of wit the way he would first have assumed. Perhaps she even understood the situation better than he would have expected. She might even know exactly who he had just killed, for all he knew.

Though, if she was a hero of this world, why would she stoop to helping him cover what did still amount to a crime?

"Hurry up, will you!" She urged, reaching down and actually began removing portions of armor as if she somehow knew the way alien armor worked and he found that of intense concern, "The longer you stand there the more the blood will dry. It'll be harder to get off once it is dry, you know."

She abandoned her task of removal for a moment to open the lid to some large receptacle and tossed a few golden pieces inside before moving to another and tossing in more armor, seemingly distributing the items at random. Next, she searched out something else, and when she seemingly fund it, water began to run over the ground from the near by wall. He stared at it as it began to wash up around his feet in tiny waves, entrancing him for utterly unknown reasons. He was... considerably out of sorts, it seemed. He was cognitive enough to realize he was unbalanced but not mentally on sure enough footing to rectify it. 

The human gave him a shove in the direction she wanted him to go, "I know you're shaken up right now, my guy, but you need to do that stuff I told you to. I've got this for now, go take care of your..." She motioned to his person as if in explanation.

He would admit, she was not wrong. He needed to spur himself into action. His feet finally began to move, following the human's promptings. Her ideas were not terrible and she knew the planet better than he did. Part of his mind, the still rational part, felt a little terrified when the last thing he saw before rounding the corner was her picking up the weapon he used to stab Thanos. She had a look of absolute focus on her face, contemplating the spear and then the rest of her surroundings.

Loki found he did not have the desire to question her nor her methods, he only cared that she was, by all appearances, helping him. His feet dragged the ground a bit more than usual as he trudged to the little human tavern and he went in the side door as she told him to. There were signs telling him with crudely drawn pictures that there was a "Men's Bathroom" and a "Woman's Bathroom."

He considered entering the women's in hopes that it would be less likely for him encounter anyone as all those he was able to see from his location were male, but he decided to take the less conspicuous option; just before pushing the door open, he thought better of it again and slipped into the women's. If, on some off chance a woman was in the establishment he could claim drunkenness, or perhaps if he pulled his cape around himself and let his head hang down, he could just hurry out and not be noticed at all. He just did not wish to encounter anyone at all as he was not in the right mind for it.

He felt muddled,  but he was trying to make his mind work.  His brain had been shaken into what they assumed was submission rather than survival instincts. His mental gathering was not entirely successful.  He was at a disadvantage after too long in the gentle company of enemies. 

Once inside he located what he could only assume she had been talking about, grabbed several thin, easily torn paper creations from a dispenser, wet them, and sequestered himself in one of the partitioned areas. His shoulders fell once he was inside, a sigh escaping his throat as he rolled his aching head over his shoulders. The wet papers felt better than he had really been expecting against his face, cool and refreshing in a disturbingly simple way. He should have expected to enjoy the smallest, most minuscule of comforts after being held captive for too long.

His body ached, cracked, creaked, and hurt. It was hard to coil his mind around the potential that it was finally over, that he survived long enough to taste freedom again. While he had always been resourceful and cunning, somehow he had not believed deep down that it would serve him well enough this time, yet here he was, wiping the blood of his enemy from his skin.

But then, there was also the mysterious Midgardian to ponder now that he honestly had the time. Doing as the strange human said could not be entirely... ill advised. While it was odd and frankly disturbing how simply she accepted the situation she must have stumbled onto, she seemed to mean him no ill. Was it because she knew of Thanos and did not realize who Loki himself was? Perhaps she had no reason to know an Asgardian, though she seemed awfully familiar with armor for a human that lived in an age where armor was uncommon.

Still, even if she knew of Loki, the people of Midgard would not have any desire to be taken over, so they had no direct reason to be overly angered with him for stopping it even if his reasons were not as altruistic as protecting their race. Perhaps they need not know so long as he never pointed it out. Let them think he acted on their behalf, that it was not mere revenge and self preservation.

Yet, if she was indeed one of the famed heroes of this world, why would she stoop to helping him cover his crimes? Why would she risk assisting someone she did not know? In the ways and methods of heroes, was it not more in practice to have him face up to his actions rather than hide it? Was hiding it not considered underhanded and cowardly on earth as it would have been in Asgard? How exactly did one categorize things on this planet? The more he tried to think it over the more confused he felt.

It was the confusion that brought him back out of his tiny shelter from the world and up to a mirror. He mechanically followed the directions she had offered as he could think of no better solutions, could hardly think at all. His grand wit and cunning must still be in recovery if he was so simply and easily following the orders of humans but even that was not sufficient to perk his ire from the low burn it had fallen to. His pride had nearly died out, though of course, not entirely, but enough to allow him not to be bothered by his submission to a potentially insane individual. Perhaps he was simply tired, just entirely too tired.

He looked tired, more than tired, really. He looked half dead at best, in desperate need of a hot spring and most likely a hefty amount of potions as well as perfumes. Even his personal crest seemed lackluster on his clothing, beaten in and princely no longer. Thor himself, were he still on earth, might not recognize him were he to come face to face with him. There was a fleeting thought, a moment of wondering if Heimdall could see him now and he dearly hoped not. If the Norns had any mercy,  the Gatekeep was blind to him as it would be so much easier to pretend to be dead they way. If the ever loyal watcher of the world's could see him,  no doubt it his pitiful state would be very well known. A further blow to his ego he did not need!

Still, perhaps that was the reason she seemed to have deigned to take pity on his wretched soul. Under other conditions he might even have pitied himself; come to think of it, he did feel rather sorry for himself.

He finished doing as he had been instructed, trying to draw himself back up to his proper stature and composure before he wrapped the tattered remains of the cape around himself and hurried, miraculously unnoticed, from the dank establishment. Though he did contemplate running and never looking back, his own foolish, incurable sense of curiosity pulled his feet back the way they had come like a magnet. He had to know, had to quell the questions, and it was his worst trait of all.

Come to think of it... he could have cast illusions.  Twisted the minds of the foolish, weak mortals. Why hasn't he considered the use of his skills over meager minds? He needed a good ale very soon. 

The sight that greeted him might have terrified him more than being captured had. He felt his heart positively stop in his chest like it had been replaced with a heavy rock. He could never have dreamed, never expected... what he found.

The entirety of the alleyway was drenched in water and his boots sloshed in it noisily as he moved cautiously forward. The ground looked black now, damp and darker than it seemed even before, like the place had been invaded by a slimy void. The girl, however, aside from her shoes, seemed dry and untouched by any of it.

"You cleaned the blood off everything you touched, right?" She asked distractedly, not even bothering to look at him.

Loki nodded even though she might not notice it, his tongue uncharacteristically still considering he was so often famed for its silver quality.

She sighed airily, "Good, that's one less thing to tie you to anything. Anyone see you?"

"I do not believe so. I attempted to be inconspicuous and unobtrusive." Oh, there, he'd managed to actually speak and in an even voice, no less.

She glanced at him them, cleaning the spear under the water, wiping it with a cloth he really had no idea how she procured, "In that get up, I'm surprised! But good job! You really need a hoodie and jeans though. What you have on is not exactly normal for 'around here' if you know what I mean?"

Ah, she did know he was not of earth then, judging by the way she said that last part. She knew, despite his human appearance. How much did she know then? And how... 

Or what had she done? WHAT HAD SHE DONE? How had she done whatever she had done? Why did he have such a feeling of  terrible foreboding? 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> If you think Loki is a little of, he is. I don't really think anyone is quite on par and back to themselves after being held prisoner and tormented. Loki wasn't quite right in the beginning of Avengers either, he was sickly and kind of disoriented. Hopefully, I showed it in this chapter rather than it being unclear what I was thinking in those terms.
> 
> Also, Thanos of this time doesn't have any infinity stones, thus, Loki could have done EXACTLY what he TRIED to do in Infinity wars! Loki deserved this, he should have won that fight, using the gauntlet is cheating! Thanos was a cheater- cheater- pumpkin- eater!


	3. Chapter 3

Perhaps the heroes of Midgard were more formidable than Thanos and the Other had lead Loki to believe. Perhaps he would have been doomed to failure had he not taken his chance and gone against the assumed brainwashing the lot of them had inflicted on him. Whatever magic this small looking human female had used, it must have clearly been powerful.

Water magic, perhaps? Could she have used some manner of amalgamation to... Surely not? Even in his depleted, diminished state, he should have been able to tell if any such sorcery had been in play in such a small area as this alleyway. Such things would surely leave some manner of a trace. Though she had made particular points about leaving no evidence behind so perhaps she was particularly skilled in hiding her trail, hiding her signature? He could only guess, really, but he was desperate to know and understand. He hoped it was as simple as magic or he would... well, he would be far more terrified than he currently was.

Unless, of course, by some horrible twist of fate, she had been in league with Thanos from the very start? Though why would a human side with the horrid creature? Though, of course, there were more than one case as to the followers of Thanos. There was something about the large creature and his charisma, should he chose to use it, that drew people in. Loki was no stranger to such tactics as he frequently used them himself but he could understand how easily others could be ensnared. Turning the mind was, in some ways, a terribly easy task if one knew the tricks.

It was possible that the girl was with Thanos and that was the reason she had been in the particular section of Midgard when things began to happen. Had she been intended to be his native guide, by chance? What a horrible thought! To have been so utterly foiled before he had even really had the chance to taste and appreciate his freedom. He dared not, could not consider such a potential, not unless he wanted to go utterly insane. He would rather believe anything at all save that unless it proved to be otherwise.

Loki edged closer to her by minuscule increments, waiting, testing in case he needed to flee. Though she seemed so unassuming that he had not thought to question her formerly. If he were to select a spy though, no doubt he would have chosen someone very much like this woman. It had been easy to trust her in the oddest way, but that would be expected of a cunning accomplice to the Mad Titan.

Still, she could simply be powerful. She could be nothing more than a kindly girl seeking to help him as most heroes were. Those who thought themselves heroes were simple enough to use. They were easily manipulated by a sad story or a desperate, well-worded plea. He was also no stranger to putting that particular weakness to use on more than one occasion when it came to his brother and the Warriors Three. Perhaps the simple fact that he was thinking of it, already working up a few angles of approach in his mind proved that he was coming back to himself.

"Sooo..." She ventured, fixing her eyes on him.

He instantly relaxed his body, fixing his posture into something hunched and meek in order to look beaten and as helpless as possible, "Yes?"

She pointed a finger at the sky and twirled it in a few tight circles, "You going to... you know?"

He could not help the way his carefully crafted expression of skittishness slipped into a blank form of irritation, "No, actually, I do not know as you have not finished a sentence." He was tired, too tired, and it was showing through spectacularly in the tone of his voice and his overall growing testiness.

"I mean," she shot back, seemingly not oblivious to his altered temper, "are you going to call the sparkle train and beam out of here? What's the modus operandi?"

"I..." Loki could not even begin to fathom what she was speaking of and felt utterly at a loss, his expression falling into something likely resembling genuine helplessness, "I really have no..." 

Her shoulders slumped and she huffed out a long breath, "Okaaaaay. You're still not quite out of the woods yet. That's okay, man, shock happens." She clapped her hands together eagerly, "But, we've got a few things to do."

How was she so... unruffled? She witnessed the death of Thanos. Or a death, at least, if she was unaware of who Thanos was, yet she behaved as if it were commonplace. Who was this girl? Really? Even his own mother, a former Shield Maiden, would have been surprised, at the very least, had she witnessed that scene. Frigga might not have swooned and run from the blood, but she would not have brushed it off as utterly mundane. This human must be more than slightly accustomed to death, as well as visitors from another world, which was also moderately frightening. He had heard rumors in the past about-

"You need to look less like a visitor from another world if you want to get very far around here." She told him as she threw a ball of cloth at him, "So I borrowed that hoodie from the car around the corner for you."

"You borrowed it?" He asked incredulously as he examined what must have passed for acceptable human attire, noting it held a very mild resemblance to a cloak, only with sleeves and other poor quality choices. It would have to do, he supposed as she was actually correct about his current wardrobe.

She shrugged and made an unconcerned expression, "They won't notice it's gone for a while and once they do they won't remember where they left it. It's a generic hoodie, which are a dime a dozen here and they hide what you need them to hide. You know, like your face if you put the hood up."

Loki felt no need to argue the point and he went ahead and pulled it on over his head, shoving his arms into the baggy sleeves. After a few more adjustments he had hidden his more notable idiosyncrasies differing from the common human. He could use his magic but she had already acquired him this bit of disguise so he saw no reason to exert effort he did not have need to.

While he altered his overall look, she busied herself with other odd tasks. As he stared at her, pretending to be more focused on adjusting his clothing, what he really wanted to know was what she had done. How long had he really been gone? He had been sure he was not gone overly long but surely he must have taken longer than anticipated as she not only had time to do... what she had done, but also steal a disguise for him. Granted, it was not an extensive disguise, but she still would have had to search one out and steal it for him. She could not possibly be an ordinary human.

Stood on her tiptoes, she was leaning around the large receptacles in the alley, doing things he did not even want to guess at as she asked, "So, do you need a lift? Like, out into the flatland where you can do the summoning ritual thing? An abandoned parking lot? Or what?"

Suddenly, Loki thought he might understand what she was referring to, but how in the Nine Realms did a human know about the  _Bifröst?_ Now he was further convinced she could be no _ordinary Midgardian_. The average human knew nothing of the Bifröst and would generally be ignorant in all respects when the subject of Asgard arose. Mayhap, she was part of their government, perhaps those that formerly attempted to detain Thor. That also made him far less interested in going anywhere at all with her as he had no intention whatsoever of ending up on that list of strange occurrences that happened around this planet. He never used to believe the stories some had told him, thinking it a trick to keep him from experimenting too much with unsupervised travel between worlds. Now, seeing this girl, he really wondered. Humans might not be as non-threatening as he used to suppose. Even fictitious yarns had their origin.

"No... I am in no need of such things. I will not currently be utilizing that form of transportation." No need to explain to her that he also could not call upon the bridge as it was currently broken.

"Why not?" She persisted.

"Because..." his mind raced to find an acceptable answer that would not make him sound vulnerable in this strange world, "I cannot attract the attention of any of Thanos' people so soon as it might be particularly unwise. Returning home so soon would alert them to the probability that something on this planet had changed and their plans were not being carried out, which would lead them to investigate."

Her eyes widened and she nodded in understanding, fully seeming to accept that line of reasoning. "Right, right! Probably bad idea to do that since you don't want them finding out about..." She drew a finger across her throat and made a sound he suspected was intended to mimic a throat being cut. "Well, there are plenty of other places to stay here. Earth is almost an alien hang out these days! I'm sure you'll fit right in!"

Loki was in no way comforted by that particular response. He did not think he liked how well versed she was in the general workings of anything outside her own planet. Humans were not supposed to be in any way knowledgeable about such things. They were supposed to be unaware of other worlds besides their own. That was almost a rule of the rest of the realms.

Apparently, this girl broke that rule. Regardless, it made little difference to him. He had other main priorities to be worried about. Midgardians were of little concern. His worry was of another variety.

He really needed her to answer a few pressing questions though, before he made his likely glorious escape, "Might I inquire, kind lady, what... precisely you did to... with Thanos' body?"

She cocked her hip, assuming a pose of defiance, "I seriously doubt you really want to know."

Loki's voice took on a slight edge, the only bite he currently allowed himself, "Oh, but I really do."

She eyed him dubiously before shrugging one shoulder, "Fine, but don't say I didn't warn you. You're as bad as Jane about asking questions you're not going to want an answer for." She rolled her eyes and waved toward the large receptacles, which Loki took to mean that he should look inside.

Warily, waiting for a trap to suddenly spring upon him but unable to pass up a chance to satiate his curiosity, he edged toward the bins. He wondered fleetingly if he honestly would be better off not knowing, not risking life and limb on the chance to quell curiosity.  The body was of no consequence to him at this time, nor was what she had done with it. If he fled now he could be long gone before any manner of trap could be sprung or any sort of consequence could attach to him.

Tentatively, he lifted one of the lids enough to peer inside. At first, he only saw piles and piles of black, shiny, and occasionally dirty bags. It was only when he noticed an anomaly that he began to connect the dots, began to prod a few bags to the side until he could see. At the sight, Loki let out a squeak that was not precisely manly and he would never admit it to his dying day even as he scrambled away, letting the lid drop loudly. The sound echoed terribly through the alley and it made him cringe further, hopeful that no humans had heard it.

He kept his voice to a horrified whisper, "What in all the Nine Realms! How did- why did-what...? Norns above, woman!" He was at a loss, and that was rare to find himself unable to adequately articulate or formulate his own thoughts on an issue.

She offered him a very decided 'told you so' kind of look, "Well, it's not like you want anyone to know what really happened, do you?! This dumpster belongs to the building but it's easy access to anyone. If they find anything before the trash truck comes by tomorrow, it still should be fine since no one will be able to tell when this happened. This place doesn't have any cameras, so they can't pin it on anyone since this is a high traffic zone. Anyone could have done it! But, they probably won't find it before it goes in the truck. If they find it in the truck, they won't know which stop it came from, and if not, it goes safely away to get burned with no one being the wiser! Ta-da!"

Loki doubted he looked overly convinced or at all soothed because she sighed and ran a hand over that knit hat of hers. "Since he's in bags I swiped from the building, I'm sure they won't look too close. It should be fine and no one will even know he didn't just go on vacation. Get it?"

It was clear now,  more or less,  what she had done.  He was,  if possible,  more horrified than he had been when he walked into the alley.  He might not know exactly what,  or how,  but she had been right,  he did not want details. 

Though,  how had she managed to - no,  no,  he had not want to know! Though,  clearly,  she was stronger than she appeared! He should not underestimate her under any circumstances. 

"Who are you?" Loki asked in astonishment, feeling out of his depth the way he doubted he had in a few thousand years.

She lifted her chin in a clear enough sign that she had no need to comply with any requests he made to learn her name, but eventually she said, "Just stick with 'my lady' and we should be good. Now," She picked up the scepter and settled it into a large white bag that said 'Thank You! See You Soon' multiple times down the side in red, "let's make ourselves scarce! No reason to tempt Lady Luck! I think I know a place you can hang out, at least till you get your life figured out."

Loki found himself following her as he no longer felt he knew what else to do. If he crossed her... he did not want to cross her. She could easily be trying to lure him away under the guise of helping him, fostering a false sense of security in order the catch him unaware. That would be less than advantageous. Even so, he had no current plans that would offer better avenues. He would follow her and slip away the minute she was not looking! While he was at it, he'd also take that scepter with him on the way, but he was not about to take it out of her hand. The lady was not one to be trifled with, which, considering the manner of creatures he had met in his time, was saying a lot. Even so, she helped him with Thanos, disturbing as that was, so perhaps she was not entirely bad.

He would stick with her until he had the chance to steal the scepter and fleet to some nice, quiet portion of the galaxy and never leave. Though, who was he kidding? Peace and quiet really never had been his niche in life. He was, after all, a Trickster and thrived on chaos. This particular brand of chaos, and what was before it, had been a little much for his taste. Though that might have been because he had not been in control of it, but that was hardly the point. No, the point was, he needed to get back in control. He could likely do that once he got his hands on that spear. Though, from her mumbling, apparently, the woman intended to show it to someone he remembered her mentioning before called "Jane" which was probably a very bad idea. He would likely need to steal the spear before she was able to pass it off. 

Loki needed that, but he was not about to try to take it from her while she was watching. He needed a distraction, to be sure. He did wonder exactly where she intended to take him and if he really wanted to go anywhere her clearly crazed, though possibly ingenious mind would deem a proper place to stay. He did not generally mind her particular brand of insanity but on this occasion, when he did not have both feet firmly planted in the field of advantage, he minded.

"So, Mr. Tall, Dark, and Brooding, have you eaten today or what? You look like you could use a Big Mac, or twelve, to be honest."

He narrowed his eyes and cocked his head at her, "A big what?"

She suddenly seemed excited, not bothering to answer, shifting to a new topic, "Oh! Do you like coffee? The other one loved coffee while he was here!"

Loki was even further confused, "Other one? What is coffee?"

Her shoulders fell, seemingly hurt by the simple idea that anyone in all the universe would not know the answer, "We have so much work to do!"


End file.
